It's said that TPM is proposed to address issues that software alone cannot. To my understanding, this means TPM cannot be simulated using software. For example, as far as I know, TPM comes with a hardware-based random number generator. I think it's able to generate genuine random numbers, which is something software cannot do. Software is only able to generate pseudo-random numbers.
I believe there are more critical distinguishing features of TPM from software solutions, and understanding them is crucial to learning TPM. Could someone give a list of the most critical ones along with a brief description for each?
For now, I simply cannot get a clear mind of how TPM is so special. Is it because its root private key is exclusively for TPM-internal use and cannot be read otherwise even by its owner, which is hardly possible without hardware support?